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In an interview to Freakonomics, a public radio show and podcast, the former President of Goldman Sachs said that the US President "needs a win" and expects a China deal to boost the stock market, which has treaded water for the past year.

The President, however, expressed an eagerness to host a signing summit at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Washington Post reported.

Trump had in February expressed optimism about the prospects for a trade agreement with China after he delayed a scheduled increase in tariffs on Chinese imports.

He said he was delaying an increase from 10 per cent to 25 per cent in the tariffs his administration levied earlier on $200 million in Chinese products. The hike was scheduled to take effect from March 1.

Cohn resigned in March 2018, shortly after Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

He said he supported the President's desire to crack down on unfair Chinese trade practices, but said tariffs "don't work". As evidence, he pointed to last year's record $891 billion trade deficit in merchandise and the record $419 billion gap in trade with China, the Post said.

"So tariffs were used as the threat. Did it hurt the Chinese at all? We had record trade deficits," Cohn said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)